Spike in hearing loss among adolescents

Blasting out a rocking tune on an MP3 player may be blowing out your kids' ears. A new report in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds listening to loud music may be responsible for a spike in hearing loss among adolescents.Experts at the House Ear Institute in Los Angeles say parents need to remind their teens that hearing loss is irreversible.

Alexa Curhan loves to blast her music, but after learning those earphones may lead to hearing loss, she changed her tune.

A new study shows 1 out of 5 teens has slight hearing loss, and 1 out of 20 has at least mild hearing loss. That's a 30 percent increase in the past 15 years.

"This generation coming in is going to have a problem, I think, that's going to be quite extreme," said Dr. Jennifer Derebery, a physician at House Ear Institute.

This is one of the reasons Dr. Derebery and her colleagues at the House Ear Institute wrote the book, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Hearing Loss."

"It's the most common neurological problem difficulty that there is, and it's very, very under-recognized by the public," said Dr. Derebery.